Industry News by Nemesis

World’s Priciest Earrings Fetch $57M

May 17, 2017

Sotheby’s sold a pair of colored-diamond earrings for $57.4 million in Geneva on Tuesday, setting a new auction record for the category.

The two pear-shaped stones match closely in everything but their color. One of them, a 14.54-carat, fancy vivid blue, internally flawless diamond, fetched $42.1 million, or $2.9 million per carat, Sotheby’s reported. The other half of the set, a 16-carat, fancy intense pink, VVS2-clarity diamond, attracted a winning bid of $15.3 million, or $958,636 per carat.

While Sotheby’s auctioned the diamonds separately, the same anonymous bidder snapped up both of them. The auctioneer initially said the buyer had renamed the blue diamond “The Memory of Autumn Leaves” and had called the pink one “The Dream of Autumn Leaves.” But in a later statement Wednesday, Sotheby’s said the stones had not been relabeled for the time being and were keeping their original names: the “Apollo Blue” and the “Artemis Pink.”

“The results from today’s sale — which saw more than 90% of lots sold and three new world auction records — yet again underline the strong demand for top-quality diamonds, gemstones and jewels,” said David Bennett, Sotheby’s worldwide chair of international jewelry. “I am delighted that the stones will remain together as earrings.”

The Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels auction garnered a total of $151.5 million. In addition to the earrings, Sotheby’s sold a modified rectangular brilliant-cut, 7.04-carat, fancy intense purplish pink, VS1-clarity diamond for $13.2 million, or $1.9 million per carat — a record value and per-carat price for the color and clarity combination.